“I was so afraid because they were such angry, huge animals,” Espinoza said.

All that’s changed in 25 or so years since he, as a teenager, was driving a bus through traffic jams in Mexico City.

AP FILE PHOTO

California Chrome jockey Victor Espinoza.

It really changed the first time he saw California Chrome, who has him a winning Belmont Stakes away from Triple Crown immortality.

“It was like a beautiful woman walking into the room,” Espinoza remembers.

A few months later, after California Chrome finished sixth in back-to-back races, Espinoza was asked by the horse’s handlers if he wanted to be their jockey. He needed seconds, not minutes, to accept.

Wise decision. With Espinoza, who first rode the colt last Dec. 22, in the saddle, California Chrome has won six consecutive races, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, by a combined 27½ lengths.

No wonder Espinoza has a perpetual smile on his face. Many jockeys never have a chance to compete for the Triple Crown. This is his second.

Twelve years ago, Espinoza won the first two-thirds of the crown with War Emblem. But when War Emblem stumbled out of the gate at the Belmont, eventually finishing eighth, Espinoza was added to the casualty list of a track that embraces its designation as a graveyard for champions.

That won’t happen this time, the jockey insists, because California Chrome is not War Emblem.

“California Chrome is a little more calm, more professional,” Espinoza said. “War Emblem was like a little bit crazy. He didn’t care about anything, he just wanted to run as fast as he could, and he used to like to go to the front. He didn’t like being behind. California Chrome is mellower. He listens to me more than War Emblem did.”

What must now seem like ages ago, Espinoza had his doubts about whether he could be a championship-level jockey.

After one year of driving the bus, for which he used his 18-year-old brother’s license so the bus company wouldn’t know he was “12 or 13,” he took riding lessons on a farm after high school. He then attended jockey school for a year, which is a requirement in Mexico.

Not long after, Espinoza began riding at Mexico’s Hipodromo de las Americas. He rode enough winners in four months to migrate to tracks in Northern California as a hot apprentice.

Eventually, he joined the more lucrative Southern California circuit and had a breakout year in 2000 when he won or shared three major riding titles, won 15 graded stakes, and finished seventh nationally with $13.2 million in purse earnings.

Still, he expected even more after his rides on War Emblem. The offers never came, so he stayed where he was, except for an occasional venture East. Even after his Kentucky Derby win with California Chrome, trainers weren’t knocking down his door.

“It’s no different whether it’s horse racing or if you’re Walmart, there’s so much perception involved,” said Dale Romans, who trains Medal Count, a 20-1 long shot on the Belmont morning line.

“Even myself, when I think of Victor Espinoza I think of the kid that rode at Ellis Park [Ky.] and had trouble getting a mount. I don’t think of a two-time Derby and Preakness winner.”

Espinoza, 42, has developed a winning relationship with California Chrome and Art Sherman, the horse’s 77-year-old trainer who first crossed paths with the jockey on the Northern California circuit.

“He’s been the perfect jockey for us,” Sherman said.

In an imperfect world.

Espinoza thought of retiring at 38 because of the physical dangers of riding, and that was before his older brother, Jose, a regular at New York tracks, was forced to call it quits after a bad spill at Saratoga left him with a traumatic brain injury.

“It’s a very dangerous sport,” Victor said. “Each time you ride a horse, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He thinks he knows what will happen Saturday. From his No. 2 post position, Espinoza wants to make sure California Chrome gets near the early lead, but without using so much energy that he has nothing left for the longest backstretch he’ll ever navigate.

“This is my second and last chance [at the Triple Crown],” Espinoza said. “In a million years, I didn’t think I was going to have a second chance. I was very close once. Life goes on, and over a decade later, here we go. I’m here again.”

It really changed the first time he saw California Chrome, who has him a winning Belmont Stakes away from Triple Crown immortality.

“It was like a beautiful woman walking into the room,” Espinoza remembers.

A few months later, after California Chrome finished sixth in back-to-back races, Espinoza was asked by the horse’s handlers if he wanted to be their jockey. He needed seconds, not minutes, to accept.

Wise decision. With Espinoza, who first rode the colt last Dec. 22, in the saddle, California Chrome has won six consecutive races, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, by a combined 27½ lengths.

No wonder Espinoza has a perpetual smile on his face. Many jockeys never have a chance to compete for the Triple Crown. This is his second.

Twelve years ago, Espinoza won the first two-thirds of the crown with War Emblem. But when War Emblem stumbled out of the gate at the Belmont, eventually finishing eighth, Espinoza was added to the casualty list of a track that embraces its designation as a graveyard for champions.

That won’t happen this time, the jockey insists, because California Chrome is not War Emblem.

“California Chrome is a little more calm, more professional,” Espinoza said. “War Emblem was like a little bit crazy. He didn’t care about anything, he just wanted to run as fast as he could, and he used to like to go to the front. He didn’t like being behind. California Chrome is mellower. He listens to me more than War Emblem did.”

What must now seem like ages ago, Espinoza had his doubts about whether he could be a championship-level jockey.

After one year of driving the bus, for which he used his 18-year-old brother’s license so the bus company wouldn’t know he was “12 or 13,” he took riding lessons on a farm after high school. He then attended jockey school for a year, which is a requirement in Mexico.

Not long after, Espinoza began riding at Mexico’s Hipodromo de las Americas. He rode enough winners in four months to migrate to tracks in Northern California as a hot apprentice.

Eventually, he joined the more lucrative Southern California circuit and had a breakout year in 2000 when he won or shared three major riding titles, won 15 graded stakes, and finished seventh nationally with $13.2 million in purse earnings.

Still, he expected even more after his rides on War Emblem. The offers never came, so he stayed where he was, except for an occasional venture East. Even after his Kentucky Derby win with California Chrome, trainers weren’t knocking down his door.

“It’s no different whether it’s horse racing or if you’re Walmart, there’s so much perception involved,” said Dale Romans, who trains Medal Count, a 20-1 long shot on the Belmont morning line.

“Even myself, when I think of Victor Espinoza I think of the kid that rode at Ellis Park [Ky.] and had trouble getting a mount. I don’t think of a two-time Derby and Preakness winner.”

Espinoza, 42, has developed a winning relationship with California Chrome and Art Sherman, the horse’s 77-year-old trainer who first crossed paths with the jockey on the Northern California circuit.

“He’s been the perfect jockey for us,” Sherman said.

In an imperfect world.

Espinoza thought of retiring at 38 because of the physical dangers of riding, and that was before his older brother, Jose, a regular at New York tracks, was forced to call it quits after a bad spill at Saratoga left him with a traumatic brain injury.

“It’s a very dangerous sport,” Victor said. “Each time you ride a horse, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He thinks he knows what will happen Saturday. From his No. 2 post position, Espinoza wants to make sure California Chrome gets near the early lead, but without using so much energy that he has nothing left for the longest backstretch he’ll ever navigate.

“This is my second and last chance [at the Triple Crown],” Espinoza said. “In a million years, I didn’t think I was going to have a second chance. I was very close once. Life goes on, and over a decade later, here we go. I’m here again.”